6.  The applicant was born in 1949 and lives in Brno. He is a person with a psycho-social disability. He has been treated in psychiatric hospitals in the past, most recently in 1995. He has not taken any medication for many years, because he considers that it has an adverse impact on his eyesight, and has used other methods to cope with his illness.
7.  In a judgment of 15 November 2000 the Brno Municipal Court (městský soud) deprived the applicant of his legal capacity at the request of the City of Brno, which maintained that the applicant had not collected his pension since 1996 because he did not have an identity card. The court based its decision on an expert report by Dr. H., who had concluded in 1998 that the applicant was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. The applicant, although aware of the proceedings, was not summoned to appear before the court and the decision was not served on him, the court referring to an opinion of Dr. H., who was heard by the court and did not recommend that this be done. The applicant was represented by Ms. M., an employee of the court, who had never met him, did not participate at the hearing and took no substantive part in the proceedings. The judgment became final on 21 December 2000.
8.  On an unspecified date the applicant became aware of the court’s judgment and appealed. On 27 August 2001 the Brno Regional Court (krajský soud) quashed the first-instance decision and remitted the case to the Municipal Court which, in a judgment of 24 November 2004, again deprived the applicant of his legal capacity and appointed the City of Brno as his guardian.
9.  It based its decision on a new expert report drawn up by Dr. H. on 20 May 2004 who, however, had not been able to examine the applicant because of his refusal to have any medical examinations. She concluded that there had been no improvement in the applicant’s mental health since the first report. She reiterated her findings in the 1998 report that the applicant was unable to care for himself or to manage any property, and that he was dependent on others even for daily needs. The report further stated that the applicant’s presence at the hearing would not be appropriate, because he did not understand the purpose of the proceedings and was denying his mental illness, but a court judgment could be sent to him. At a hearing, the expert stated that the notification of the court judgment to the applicant would not worsen his health, but he would not understand. She thus recommended that the judgment not be sent to the applicant.
10.  The court did not hear the applicant, who continued to be formally represented by a court employee. The judgment was not served on him and became final on 1 January 2005.
11.  The applicant became aware of the judgment on 20 June 2006 and appealed on 4 July 2006. He stated that the court had not notified him about the institution and outcome of the incapacitation proceedings and that Dr. H had drawn up her expert opinion without examining him. The applicant was represented by a lawyer from the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (“the MDAC”).
12.  On 25 October 2006 the Regional Court again quashed the Municipal Court’s judgment and sent the case back to it, disputing the relevance of the expert opinion which had been drawn up without the applicant being examined. It suggested that the Municipal Court should appoint a new expert.
13.  On 19 September 2007 the Municipal Court decided not to deprive the applicant of his legal capacity, basing its decision on an expert report by Dr. B., who had concluded on 11 May 2007 that the applicant was mentally ill but did not show signs of schizophrenia, was not dangerous or aggressive and was fully capable of making legal assessments. The court heard the expert, the applicant, who was legally represented, and his guardian. The judgment became final on 23 November 2007.
14.  In total the applicant was deprived of legal capacity from 21 December 2000 to 27 August 2001 and from 1 January 2005 to 25 October 2006, that is for two years and six months.
15.  On 15 January 2008, in two separate documents, the applicant requested the Ministry of Justice to award him non-pecuniary damages for the unreasonable length of incapacitation proceedings and violations of other procedural rights.
16.  The Ministry joined the two requests of the applicant and on 1 September 2008 awarded him 102,000 Czech korunas (CZK, 4,602 euros (EUR)) in damages for the unreasonable length of proceedings. Regarding the rest of the applicant’s claims, the Ministry accepted that the judgments had not been served on the applicant and that his rights had therefore been violated. It stated, however, that a finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage he might have sustained.
17.  The applicant brought proceedings for damages at the Prague 2 District Court (obvodní soud), claiming violations of his procedural rights in the incapacitation proceedings.
18.  On 12 November 2008 the District Court rejected the applicant’s action. On the basis of established case-law it held that the alleged shortcomings in the incapacitation proceedings could not constitute irregular official conduct for which the State could be held responsible, because there had been a decision. The applicant could have claimed damages only for a decision that became final but was later quashed as illegal. That situation however did not arise in the present case.
19.  On 10 December 2009 the Municipal Court upheld the judgment of the lower court.
20.  On 16 February 2012 the Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud) dismissed a constitutional appeal by the applicant as manifestly ill-founded. It held that the legal opinion of the ordinary courts was not unconstitutional. It noted that by claiming damages for irregular official conduct the applicant had been trying to circumvent the fact that he had not met the conditions for claiming damages for an unlawful decision. Furthermore, the decisions for which the applicant was claiming damages had never become final and so could not have interfered with his rights.
21.  On 9 November 2005 the applicant had a verbal, non-violent argument with his partner, Ms J., who called the police and an ambulance. Although the police found no signs of violence and the applicant’s partner confirmed that the applicant had not been aggressive, the ambulance doctor decided to take the applicant to a psychiatric hospital. The applicant disagreed but did not resist.
22.  At his admission to the Brno-Černovice Psychiatric Hospital, the applicant was subjected to two specialist medical examinations. They both concluded that the applicant suffered from schizophrenia. The applicant insisted at the examinations that there were no reasons for his detention. Despite his warning that neuroleptic psychiatric medication had a negative effect on his eyesight, he was nevertheless ordered to take the medication, and when he refused it was administered by injection. As a result, according to the applicant, his eyesight deteriorated.
23.  On 10 November 2005 the applicant complained about his treatment in a letter to the director of the hospital, but his letter was retained by the staff; he was informed of this on 14 November 2005. He has never received any reply from the director.
24.  On 11 November 2005 the hospital notified the Municipal Court of the applicant’s involuntary admission so that the court could start to review its lawfulness under Article 191a of the Code of Civil Procedure. On an unspecified date the hospital contacted the applicant’s guardian (the City of Brno) which, on 14 November 2005, consented to his detention. The employee who signed the consent had never met the applicant and did not inform him that consent had been given.
25.  On an unspecified date the applicant was moved to a department with a more lenient regime, but was still not allowed to leave.
26.  On 14 November 2005 he contacted the MDAC. On the same day, an MDAC lawyer stated to the Municipal Court that the applicant’s involuntary detention was unlawful, and requested his release.
27.  On 29 November 2005 the applicant was released from the hospital. He stated that he suffered from impaired vision and mental health for almost a year as a consequence of the treatment he received in the hospital.
28.  On an unspecified date a judge of the Municipal Court informed the MDAC lawyer that the applicant had been deprived of legal capacity and that a power of attorney therefore had to be signed by his guardian. Due to the applicant’s poor health after his release from the hospital, the applicant was able to visit his guardian in an office of the City of Brno only on 8 November 2006. The employee of the City of Brno he approached refused however to sign the power of attorney. On the same day, the applicant himself asked the Municipal Court for a further review of the lawfulness of his involuntary admission to the psychiatric hospital. On 24 November 2006 he was told in a letter that no proceedings in that regard had been instituted.
29.  On 2 January 2007 the applicant complained to the President of the Municipal Court about delays in the proceedings. On 5 March 2007 he received a reply that no such proceedings had been instituted because his guardian had consented to his detention.
30.  On 31 January 2007 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal (ústavní stížnost) alleging a violation of his rights to liberty, fair hearing, respect for private life and non-discrimination due to his involuntary hospitalisation and removal of his legal capacity.
31.  On 8 January 2009 the Constitutional Court dismissed his constitutional appeal for non-exhaustion of ordinary remedies. Regarding the proceedings on the review of the lawfulness of his involuntary hospitalisation, the court held that the applicant had not lodged a complaint under section 174a of the Act on Courts and Judges (no. 6/2002) requesting the court to set a date for action. Regarding the incapacitation proceedings, it held that at the time the constitutional appeal was lodged those proceedings were pending before the Municipal Court.
32.  On 6 February 2009 the applicant lodged a new complaint of delays in the proceedings on the review of the lawfulness of his involuntary admission to the psychiatric hospital, and requested the court to set a date for action. On 13 March 2009 the Regional Court refused his request on the grounds that since the applicant was no longer detained no proceedings on lawfulness of his detention had been held, so there were no proceedings in which any delays could be found and which could be expedited.
33.  On 21 May 2009 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal, claiming that his psychiatric detention had never been reviewed by a court.
34.  On 11 January 2012 the Constitutional Court dismissed his constitutional appeal as unsubstantiated, holding that the courts had rightly not instituted proceedings to review the applicant’s detention, because his guardian had consented to it, and moreover when the applicant had requested the continuation of the proceedings he was no longer detained, which was another reason why the proceedings had had to be abandoned. It added that the applicant could institute civil proceedings for damages against the hospital, in which the lawfulness of its actions could be reviewed.